by Brian de Lore Published 14 March 2024 Owners, trainers and jockeys have already tasted the benefits this season of increased stakes money emanating from the partnering of TAB NZ with the global betting giant Entain, and by the end of April, punters will get their turn, and it should be a game changer. Come to think of it, a large proportion of owners and trainers (not jockeys, hopefully) will fall into the category of punters, so they will be doubly pleased when Entain announce their three-pronged attack on the TAB NZ betting experience at the end of April. Coming is a state-of-the-art app ..read more

by Brian de Lore  Published 06 November 2023 If TAB NZ ran a book on the next Minister of Racing, Winston Peters would be $1.50 and firming to have his third term in the role. Who else could be a legitimate candidate in the coalition negotiations underway this week? Six months ago you could have bet 50/1, but now Winston has firmed into $1.50, and is better value than the Melbourne Cup favourite Vauban, which has eased from $3.50 to $4.20 in the last few days and must overcome the obstacles of history to win the race. One United Kingdom punter has a $1,000 fifth leg multi riding on Vauban ..read more

by Brian de Lore  Published 15th September 2022. TAB NZ runs advertising warning customers against the perils of addictive gambling and betting more than one can afford. It paints itself as an organisation that acts responsibly and cares about its customers, and all of us who place bets would like to think that’s true. But, I’m afraid it’s far from the truth. You don’t have to dig far beneath the shiny cosmetic side of the TAB to discover pari-mutuel or tote betting has a Catch-22 side to it, known only by a few people. They include those employees running the TAB’s elite punters group an ..read more

by Brian de Lore Published 1st August 2023 Five years have elapsed (almost to the day) since John Messara AM handed over his ‘Review of the New Zealand Racing Industry’ to the then Minister of Racing, Winston Peters. It’s timely, therefore, to get John’s thoughts in a Q&A. He kindly agreed to share his views on what’s happened in the intervening five years and where New Zealand Racing is heading. BdL: It’s exactly five years since you completed the Messara Review with 17 recommendations which were implemented only in part, despite your pleading that it was a suite of fixes that needed to b ..read more

This lone fisherman’s take on the new TAB CEO appointment cleared the early morning mist before a successful catch by Brian de Lore  Published 20th January 2022 TAB NZ’s Monday announcement of its new CEO revived memories of more than seven years ago when John Allen’s name occupied the press release as the new CEO of the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB), name-changed to RITA in 2019 and now known as TAB NZ. The obvious common denominator between John Allen and the appointment of new man Mike Tod is no wagering or racing knowledge. The similarities go deeper in that both gained the appointm ..read more

by Brian de Lore  Published 14 June 2023 The worst case of administrative incompetence in the history of New Zealand racing. That’s my view on the performance of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Board (NZTR) over the past three years. The board has failed big time to serve the best interests of thoroughbred racing, and if they had any semblance of self-judgement and conscience they would all resign and refund their directors’ fees. In simple terms, they have failed to use advantageous legislation written into the Racing Act of 2020. The board’s failure to understand the Messara Review ..read more

by Brian de Lore  Published on 29 May 2023 The Entain deal is a fizzer for racing. That’s my view after learning the devilish detail of an agreement that’s more about the TAB’s survival and the Minister’s generosity with racing’s money than it is about arresting racing’s decline. Racing’s $150 million cake already had the icing removed before the codes turned up to collect it. By that time the cake had a value of $89.5 million and the Entain/TAB partnership had divided it into five slices, each for yearly distribution with the largest slice five years away. The deal is no game-changer for ..read more

by Brian de Lore  Published 5 May 2023 Every two years, a new group of high achievers come forward for induction into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame, and in the class of 2023, none would be more deserving of a place than the late Keith Felix Hawkins Voitre.     Not only did this young man display a genius rarely known in his profession, and perhaps posthumously never bettered in such a short career, but his perfection as a jockey came equally matched with an off-course behaviour that singled him out amongst his peers. He exuded a manner, charm, and maturity well b ..read more

The TAB is ignoring its statutory obligation to maximise profits for the benefit of the racing codes by Brian de Lore Published 2nd November 2021 So much deceit, woke politics, and cancel culture exists in the world today that it came as no surprise to discover TAB NZ had joined the fray and, although not yet telling lies, they’ve instead withheld information over the past few months that would raise serious stakeholder questions. But the stakeholders of New Zealand racing and the true owner of the TAB, the thoroughbred and harness racing clubs that started the TAB in 1951, are used to poor tr ..read more

Operating expenses at TAB NZ out of control as profit declines by Brian de Lore Published 11 February 2023 The double-edged sword of incomings versus outgoings dealt the racing industry two more deep slashes in its death by a thousand cuts when TAB NZ released its December 2022 result last week. Disastrous December! Profit came in at only $14.0 million compared to $16.1 million for December 2021. This result came despite the most recent December having five Saturdays compared to three raceday Saturdays for 2021. It’s traditionally the day of the biggest turnover by sheer weight of race meeting ..read more